Gustin wins at Golden Triangle Raceway Park

BEAUMONT, Texas -- The 2011 campaign for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour powered by Swan Energy brought the dirt-churning open-wheel Modifieds to the Golden Triangle Raceway Park Friday night for the 5th Annual Texas Shootout.

The 40-lap main event featured several battles for position as drivers maneuvered around the tricky quarter-mile clay oval.

One position that was not in question, however, was the first one.

Twenty-year-old Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, was the winningest USMTS driver in 2010 with 16 victories and a runner-up finish in the final points.

Gustin left no doubts Friday night that he is the man to beat again as he notched his third win in five races to kick off the 2011 season and moved into sole possession of fourth in the all-time wins list with his 27th career triumph in USMTS competition.

Starting from the pole position, “The Reaper” kept the competition at the bay for the entire distance, defending his spot each time during four mid-race cautions.

The win was worth $2,000 and solidified his seat at the top of the points in the Southeast Region.

Last year’s Texas Shootout winner and defending USMTS National Champion Jason Hughes of Watts, Okla., was embroiled for most of the race in a battle with Sunnyville’s Clyde Dunn Jr., but Dunn experienced carburetor problems late in the race and faded to sixth while Hughes hung on for a second-place finish.

Rookie of the Year contender Keith Foss of Winona, Minn., continued his streak of early-season strong runs with a third-place finish ahead of AFCO Pole Award winner Johnny Scott of Las Cruces, N.M.

Coming from 17th on the starting grid, Shane Hebert of Lafayette, La., clawed his way to a fifth-place finish en route to earning the Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger Award.

Behind Dunn, four other Lone Star State pilots rounded out the top-10 with Midlothian’s Chase Allen capturing the seventh spot, Rodney Sanders of Happy in eighth, P.J. Egbert of Copperas Cove taking ninth and McKinney racer Jared Webb scoring a tenth-place paycheck.